


Under Her Command

by BubbaKnowlton



Series: Evil Space Dads (TLJ compliant) [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Kidfic, M/M, Minor descriptions of violence and injury, Ren loves spoiling his daughter, TLJ Compliant, Unrequited Love, but also theyre different species so, human kids eating alien people, implied past mpreg, is it cannibalism if a human eats an alien cuz thats still a person, rey and ren force face timing each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 19:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17752343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbaKnowlton/pseuds/BubbaKnowlton
Summary: A First Order academy is destroyed shortly after the destruction of Starkiller Base, crashing into a nearby planet. The three surviving cadets, including one Cadet Ren, must hold out until a rescue ship comes to search the wreckage for survivors.-They’d unanimously decided the first few days that they wouldn’t leave the crash site. A ship would come to rescue them, check out the wreckage to find out what happened. They needed to be there so they could be picked up. Cryptically, she had told them that help would definitely come, as it was the will of the Force.I won’t be abandoned,she told them,and I will take you with me.





	Under Her Command

**Author's Note:**

> jhkshklshja been a Huge While since i last posted a star wars fic lmao. don't worry, i still love star wars and plan to finish up all the WIP fics i have in my iPad, I just Also love star trek and was busy watching all the series and writing stuff for it as well.  
> Anyways,, have a TLJ compliant fic from me. i might have made Kylo a Bit Older in this but i dont. really bother with timeline stuff unless it's relevant and since he and hux's daughter's age is not mentioned in this, it's not relevant. i'd place her at roughly 12, while her friends are probably 10 and 8.  
> i actually started writing this before tlj came out and it was gonna be an emperor hux au BUT then the movie came out and i decided 'man. i could totally make this fic kind of canon-compliant instead. that'd be super cool' so i changed it and im happier with it actually

**Under Her Command**

_Has anyone else survived?_

_No, just the three of us._

She brushed and trimmed their hair, insisting that even though they had been reduced to scavengers, they would all follow regulation and keep clean. They bathed in gathered rainwater. The two didn’t understand why she was so insistent they only drink and touch rainwater until the found a pond amidst the wreckage and saw it was full of fuel, with a few dead birds next to it, dead fish floating at the surface. They were rotting. It was contaminated, would surely have made them sick.

“Now you see.” She startled them by appearing behind them like a spectre. “We are spacers. We have weak immune systems. Drinking, touching this, would infect us. We will remain safe as long as we take water from the top of the bridge, where nothing can contaminate it.”

It rained every night on the despicable planet, so she set up buckets on top of the bridge, and every morning, she climbed up and retrieved them. If they had anything in them, they were dumped. It didn’t matter if they were, because there was always too much water for them in just two buckets for a single day unless they bathed, and it would always rain again come sundown, in the planet’s attempt to wash away the blemish on its skin.

Each day she brought them out, testing bits of the paths they’d found before allowing them to follow, to scavenge for supplies and good parts. If they found an obvious body, not burned to ash or crushed to unrecognizable pieces, they’d cover it with a sheet of metal. Then, they’d continue on.

Once they either found all that they could carry or when the sun began going down, they would go back to their little campsite.

And then real scavengers started to show up.

-

The scavengers pulled away hunks of metal, pieces of equipment, instead of things like old rations and tools. These scavengers were fine and she did not mind them, only making sure that they were not spotted to keep them all safe.

Then they began touching the bodies, picking up charred bones and laughing. She could not stand this and drew a blaster she’d found a few days before. She shot one in the head, and that was that. They gathered up the scavenger’s corpse and stripped it of all its supplies, taking its clothes and weapons. They left the body after she saw they looked uneasy when she suggested that they eat it.

“It’s just an alien,” she said to them, but they were scared of it. She sighed and rubbed both of their heads. Together, they brought their new supplies back to camp.

The next scavenger they killed had some animals with them, domesticated birds. When she suggested eating them and not their owner, the two of them reluctantly agreed. She started a fire and cut off the feathers and skin of the creatures, and then cooked them.

It wasn’t bad at all, certainly more enjoyable to eat than nutrient bars every single day. They stored the leftovers and ate them the next few days along with bits of rations, in case it didn’t have every nutrient they needed inside of it.

Two scavengers fought each other, so they looted the loser’s body. They were running out of edible rations, and the birds that sometimes came down to the wreckage were too difficult to catch enough of.

“We must make use of what the Force gives us.”

“That’s a person!”

“No. They’re scavenger scum. Come on, they’re not human, and we cannot let ourselves starve.”

“But…”

“I will not let us die before we are rescued from this hell.”

-

She dragged the corpse back to their camp and set to work. The scavenger’s clothes made a good blanket, and they had weapons on them they could use, along with a canteen.

“You know what I realized?” one of the smaller cadets spoke. She looked up. “We don’t even know each other’s names, and it’s been almost two weeks.”

“We’ll adopt new names. Pop and Lock.” She pointed a bloodied finger at each of them and then gestured to herself. “I’ll be Trigger. Just like using a blaster. Pop it out of the holster, lock onto your target, and pull the trigger.”

“Okay, Trigger,” Lock agreed. Pop’s stomach rumbled and he hugged his knees to his chest.

Trigger cut off a decent chunk of the green colored meat. “Pop, you can have this piece. Cook it well, it will get rid of any potential diseases.”

“Thank you…”

She put the meat over the fire and worked on carving off more. Blood dripped off of the slabs, sizzling as it hit the flames. She put some ripped cloth on the fire to keep it going. As soon as Pop’s piece was done cooking, she stabbed it off with a sharp stick of metal and gave it to him. She put on the next piece.

Wary, Pop took a small bite. “Mm!” He wasn’t sure if it was just hunger, but it tasted great. “It’s good!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! You’ll like it, Lock!” He turned to eating, taking large bites. It was far more filling than the birds and rations, was actually satisfying to eat.

Lock watched him, hopeful and hungry. He dug into his portion as soon as Trigger handed it to him. After swallowing a big mouthful, he agreed. “Wow! This tastes great! This was a great idea, Trigger.”

“Eat up. The meat will spoil soon, and we need to use as much as possible.”

“I don’t know how we can eat a whole scavenger in just a few days…”

“We’ll use the spoiled meat as bait for more animals. On the outskirts of the blast, there’s a forest. Perhaps there’s wildlife we can trap.”

They’d unanimously decided the first few days that they wouldn’t leave the crash site. A ship would come to rescue them, check out the wreckage to find out what happened. They needed to be there so they could be picked up. Cryptically, she had told them that help would definitely come, as it was the will of the Force. _I won’t be abandoned,_ she told them, _and I will take you with me._

“Is it smart to go to the edge? What if a ship comes?”

“We’ll keep an eye out.” She looked down at the corpse she was kneeling beside, an odd look on her face that they couldn’t decipher. “An eye… That should be edible too.”

-

“This one doesn’t taste as good, Trigger.” Pop and Lock had no idea what species they were eating now, but it was much tougher to eat than the Rodian they’d scavenged. They’d killed the alien themselves, creeping up on it and all attacking at once. Now the two boys wondered if it was worth the effort and ammo they’d spent.

Trigger shrugged, her mouth full as she worked on fixing one of the blasters they’d burnt out during the kill. Pop and Lock weren’t sure how she knew technology so well. It was like it just came to her, even if she’d never seen the technology before. She swallowed hard and then said, “Beggars can’t be choosers, Lock. Still tastes better than rations.”

“When do you think a rescue ship will come?”

“I don’t know. Something big must have happened for it to take this long. But don’t worry. The Force has a plan for us. We will find our way home.”

“You sound like a Jedi when you say that, Trigger.”

“The Jedi are worthless and weak, don’t call me that. My father is one of the Knights of Ren. I may have no powers of my own, but I trust in it. Just as I trust in the Order.”

“Ah. Sorry. A Sith, then.”

“Close enough, Pop.” She cracked a smile for the first time in the weeks they’d been there. Pop and Lock grinned back. “Keep eating. We have to put out the fire soon.”

Pop dug back into his food, but Lock thought for a moment. “Have you ever seen your father use the Force? And… aren’t Force users not supposed to have children?”

Shrugging, she reassembled the blaster. “Supreme Leader Snoke wanted my father’s bloodline to continue. I spent some time with him when I was younger. He tried to teach me the Force. I watched him use it many times.”

“That’s interesting. My parents got killed by rebels. Is your mother still around?”

“Yes. He’s a General. However, he failed the Supreme Leader again, so I’m not sure if he’s still alive.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry,” she assured him. “I won’t feel any grief for him. If the Supreme Leader believes he should die, then I trust in his judgment, just as my father does.” She lifted up the blaster and aimed at a hanging chunk of debris. After a moment, she fired.

A perfect shot. “Good job, Cadet,” Lock told her. She nodded and set the weapon down before returning to her meal.

-

Trigger shot up in the middle of the night, crying out, “No, wait!” Startling awake, the other two grabbed their weapons. She made a wide gesture with her arm to settle them, just barely visible in the little bit of moonlight that streamed into their campsite, a partially buried but structurally sound storage room on the ship. “It’s fine.”

“A nightmare?”

“No. My father reached out to me with the Force. He knows we’re here.”

“We’re going to be rescued soon, then!”

“Yes. I wanted to keep talking to him, but… Something must have happened soon after the weapon fell. I could tell he was very stressed.”

“We’ll find out when we get back, Trigger.”

-

A sleek black ship came down as they dragged another body back to their campsite. When they heard the ship’s engines, they dropped the corpse and ran for cover. They hid within a pile of debris and Trigger peeked her head out. “I don’t recognize the design… It’s not a scavenger ship, it’s too advanced.”

“A bounty hunter?” Lock suggested.

“No. They would have more weapons…” She narrowed her eyes, and then straightened up. “Wait a second, I remember that ship now! That belongs to some of the Knights of Ren! My father has come to rescue us. Come on!” She grabbed their hands to keep them close as the three of them headed towards where the ship was descending.

It landed on the outskirts of the wreckage. By the time they got there, two of the Knights were standing outside of the ship, its ramp set down. Trigger slowed her pace, and Pop and Lock were a bit unnerved when they could see that the Knights were staring directly at them as they approached, like they’d been watching since before they were visible. The two of them had only heard rumors about the Force, and little bits from their older companion, but they didn’t doubt that the Knights had used their abilities to do so.

Trigger held up her hands and Pop and Lock quickly copied her. “My Lords! We are-”

“Annike Ren, we have been sent by the Supreme Leader to retrieve you.”

She was taken aback, pausing. “Supreme Leader Snoke requested that I be rescued?” Her hands lowered, so the two boys let their own hands fall back to their sides as well.

“No. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. Snoke is dead. What happened to your academy?”

“Snoke is, um… Oh! The Academy was attacked shortly after the destruction of Starkiller Base.” One of the Knights, with a long blaster rifle strapped to their back, approached them. They brushed a few strands of hair from her bloodied forehead. “The ships were not Resistance. My companions and I could not identify them.”

“You are the sole survivors?”

They swiped a thumb over a cut, making her wince. “Yes. Will you bring us to a different Academy, my Lords?”

“No. The Supreme Leader would like you to be brought directly to him. Now that your father is ruler, he wants you to be kept safe.”

“Of course, as the Supreme Leader commands.” She hesitated, her whole demeanor completely different from the confident leader that had led them to survival the past three weeks. “May I bring my companions with me? We have survived together since the ship crashed, and I… I do not wish to be separated from them.”

The Knight nodded. “Come aboard. We have a medical droid that will tend to your injuries.” They clapped her back. “How would you like a full meal?”

She smiled up at them, her cold confidence returning. “Oh, we’ve been eating quite well.”

They were silent for a moment and then chuckled. “So you have. Come along, we must report back.”

-

A small medical droid fixed them up while the ship took off, and after a round of injections, they were directed to the bridge so they could talk to the Knights some more. Pop and Lock decided that they would remain silent during the ship ride unless they were spoken to. They trusted Trigger to do all the talking.

The two Knights were speaking to someone over hologram as they entered the room. Pop and Lock looked around at the high tech controls. It wasn’t anything like any other First Order ships they’d seen diagrams of.

“Annike, children, approach. General Hux wishes to speak to you.”

“Yes, my Lords.” Trigger stepped forward, hands clasped behind her back. Pop and Lock lingered behind her, nervous. “General. Cadet Annike Ren and the other survivors reporting in.”

Well, that was their cue to introduce themselves. Lock went first, “Cadet Betren Canady, sir.”

Pop stood at attention. “Cadet Parry Cardan, sir.”

“Survivors.”

“An officers’ academy was attacked and destroyed, General,” the other Knight, holding a long staff, responded. “They’ve been surviving by themselves in the wreckage for three weeks. I think they could all use a proper sonic, new clothes, and a nice nap before you question them about what happened.”

“Come closer, child.” The Knight with the blaster gestured for Trigger to come closer. She did as she was told, and was pulled onto their lap. They held their hand in front of her face. “You’re quite the savage little creature, aren’t you? Resourceful, though. General Hux, you should be proud of your daughter. She is willing to go to any length to protect those under her command.”

“I’m the oldest, it was my duty to keep Cadets… Canady and Cardan safe.”

“Such respect for the Force, despite your lack of power. You don’t even fight me.”

“I trust in the Force just as I trust in the First Order, even if I cannot use it.”

“Good girl. Teach that to your friends. Go get some rest before we see your father. Cadets, you rest as well. General Hux will ask the Supreme Leader what to do with you.”

“Yes, sir.” Pop and Lock saluted.

“Of course, my Lord.” Trigger dipped her head and was released. “I hope to see you soon, General,” she said to the hologram, and then gestured for Pop and Lock to follow her out of the room. They found a few bunks and laid down to sleep.

-

It was strange to be back on a large ship and the three of them found it odd to be surrounded by lots of people once more. The _Supremacy_ was bustling with people, busy officers and stormtroopers that hardly spared a glance to the Knights and bloodied cadets behind them as they passed.

Trigger took Pop and Lock’s hands and squeezed them, giving them each a determined look. It helped them relax and they both gave her a nod. The Knights brought them to the Supreme Leader’s throne room and they released each other’s hands as the door slid open. Staying silent, they followed the Knights up to where the Supreme Leader was seated on his throne, General Hux standing next to him.

The Knights bowed. “Supreme Leader Ren. We have completed our task.”

Pop and Lock had heard stories about Kylo Ren. The older cadets had described him as terrifying. He certainly looked intimidating, but after spending three weeks with Trigger, all they could think of when they saw him was how much he looked like their friend. There was no doubt about it that he was her father. She was practically a miniature version of him, only much more lean, with perfectly straight, short hair.

“Annike. It’s good to see you again.”

“Supreme Leader.”

“Come here.” Trigger gave them each a glance before she approached her father. Ren took her shoulders and made her step even closer when she stopped. He lifted her chin, running his thumb over one of the bacta patches on her face. “You’re hurt.”

“Minor injuries. I’ve been treated, sir.”

“Look at you. You’re covered in blood.”

“It’s not mine, sir.”

“Sir… You don’t need to call me that, Annike.” She stared at him and he sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Hux told me what happened to your academy. How are you feeling?”

“My companions and I are fine, Supreme Leader, just tired. Will we be sent to a different academy once our wounds are healed?”

Cupping her face in his hands, he smiled and said, “Now that Snoke is gone, I can keep you with me. We don’t have to be separated any longer, Annike.” Pop and Lock couldn’t see Trigger’s expression, but Ren’s face fell. “Don’t you want to stay with me?”

“I will do as you say, but… With all due respect, Supreme Leader, what will I do here?”

“You can continue your education on board. I won’t stop you from learning. And we can begin your training.”

“I’m not Force sensitive, Supreme Leader.”

“It doesn’t matter. The Force flows through every living being. Even if you cannot harness its power, you can benefit from training. You can learn to use a lightsaber, to fight. You are my daughter, Annike, I know you will excel.”

“My friends, Canady and Cardan… May they stay with me, Supreme Leader? They helped me stay alive in the wreckage. I do not want to be split apart from them.”

“Of course, whatever you want.” Well, that decided what was to happen to them. Pop and Lock weren’t sure how they felt about no longer being students at an academy. However, they were glad they’d be able to stay with their friend.

“And may I spend time with the General on occasion?”

“Yes. I won’t keep you from your family. Unless either of us tells you otherwise, you’ll be free to accompany us whenever you wish.” Trigger hadn’t mentioned to them that she missed either of her parents or that she wanted to be with them. Ren’s reassurances came off as a bit over excessive to them, like he was thinking of someone else’s wants instead of his daughter’s. “You’re tired. You and your friends should clean up and get some rest. I’ll come and see you soon. Hux, take them to my quarters and make sure they settle.”

-

“General Hux… Why has the Supreme Leader taken such an interest in me?” Trigger increased her pace so she could walk alongside the General.

“You are his daughter, Cadet, and the Supreme Leader is… sentimental.”

“He cares about me, then? Do you care about me?”

“You are my child as well. There is some attachment, of course.”

“The attachment is requited.” She turned her head. “Cadets, do you agree with my decision to keep you with me?”

“Yes, Trigger. Ah… Cadet Ren?” Pop ducked his head. “Annike? Goodness…” He started to laugh, stopping in the middle of the hallway. Lock tilted his head and began to smile. When Trigger smiled as well, he snickered.

She laughed. Hux looked between the three of them. “Why are you laughing?”

“Stars, Trigger, what did we just go through? That wreckage- do we still call each other by those stupid nicknames you came up with for us? I don’t think I could bear to call you Ren from now on!”

“I didn’t even ask for your names. I just made up new ones!” She snorted, and then sunk down to the ground. Hux grabbed her arm and pulled her back up, but her legs gave out. “If we’d gotten captured, I thought it would be useful if we knew as little as possible about each out- and we ended up killing anyone who could have grabbed us anyways!”

“Three weeks on a miserable planet, surrounded by corpses! Kriff, Trigger, who could have imagined that ever happening to a bunch of First Order brats like us? And what we did to survive… that was gruesome, wasn’t it?”

“It was! It really was!”

“Call it gruesome, but…” Lock looked between his two friends, a hungry look in his eyes. “Wasn’t it kind of fun as well? I liked eating those things more than rations.”

Pop nodded and agreed, saying, “Yes! I hope we’ll be able to try those things again someday.”

-

It was strange, having his daughter around. But Ren adored her and was happy to finally have a family he was pleased to call his own, even if it would take time and effort to get Annike and Hux to open up to him like he wanted them too. Other than training, Annike never sought him out, content to spend her time studying with her friends and learning what life was like on a real starship.

She took to Dark Side training far easier than he had, tapping into her experience on the little world she and her friends had begun referring to as their hell. Force sensitivity was beyond her, but where she lacked in that ability she made up for with her fighting skills and understanding of meditative techniques.

“You’re very focused. Good.”

“Concentration is important. Distractions can lead to injury or death.”

“In battle, you must focus on your opponent, never let your guard down. Especially not with a Force user.”

“Will I ever need to fight a Jedi, Supreme Leader?”

“No,” he promised, putting a hand on her back. “I wouldn’t let her near you.”

She uncrossed her legs and opened her eyes, turning to look up at him. Curious, she asked, “But what if she did? I want to protect Cardan and Canady. They’re not as good at fighting as I am.”

“You’ve been training your friends?” That explained the various bruises the two young boys had been coming home with, why they were always so tired at night. Annike must have been training them hard.

“Yes, Supreme Leader. Whatever you teach me, I teach to them. Your Knights suggested that I should. Is that alright? I will stop immediately if you want me to.”

“That’s great, Annike. I’m very proud of you.” She blinked in surprise, leaning back slightly. The, she smiled. She hugged her knees to her chest and looked down at the floor. For the first time, Ren felt a genuine warmth through the bond between them.

-

“Why can’t you just leave?” he snarled at Rey. “I have something important to take care of, and I can’t have you distracting me.”

“Believe me, I’m trying my hardest to leave!” Though Snoke was gone, the bond between the two of them had remained. Rey had appeared in front of him, and just as before, while he could see and hear her, he could not see her surroundings, while she could see his. Neither of them understood why the Force wanted them to keep communicating. “I don’t want to see you, not after all that you’ve done.”

“Try harder!”

“I don’t see you trying to break the connection!” She stepped closer to him, furrowing her brows as she searched his face. “You’re already distracted, waiting for something. What are you waiting for?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Maybe not, but I’m still here. The Force brought us together again, so there must be a reason.”

“There’s no reason. What I’m doing has nothing to do with the war, nor the Force.”

“Then what are you doing? Is someone coming? General…” He could practically hear her memory of Poe telling her and Finn how he called Hux ‘Hugs’ right before a fight.

“His name is Hux.”

“Right. Is he who you’re waiting for?”

“No, I’m not waiting for him.” It would be a nice surprise if Hux showed up, but the General was on duty, and wouldn’t miss his work for a sentimental indulgence.

“Then who?”

His door slid open, and he hissed at her, “Keep quiet!”

“It doesn’t matter! Only you can hear me!”

Annike came in, followed by her two friends as always. None of them noticed him standing off to the side. The three of them looked ruffled, like they’d been training together. Betren tugged on Parry’s arm and whispered something to him that made the older boy giggle. Annike stopped and turned around. “Your inadequacy with a bo staff isn’t very funny, Parry.”

“I think it was very funny when I tripped that poor Lieutenant. Ha! You think so too!”

“I do not,” Annike insisted. Ren couldn’t see her face, but he could sense the laughter she was holding back.

“Then why are you smiling?”

“Alright,” she said, turning back around and rolling her eyes, “-it was pretty funny. But we’ll need to work more on your hold.” Seeing him, the three of them froze. “Oh, Supreme Leader! We didn’t expect you to be back so early.”

Ren glanced at Rey. She was staring at the three children with confusion on her face. “Who are they?”

He ignored her so he could go and give Annike a hug. He’d started doing that a few days ago, and though she tensed whenever he did it, she was finally beginning to loosen up quicker. She actually returned the hug this time, albeit a bit awkwardly. “Hello, Annike. How was your day?”

“It was good, Supreme Leader. We’ve completed a large portion of our studies for the day, and had a short training session. Barring one incident, it was rather successful.”

He let go of her and she straightened her uniform. “And you two?”

“We’re fine as well, sir,” Parry answered.

“Yes, sir,” Betren agreed, nodding. “We had fun.”

“I’m glad. Now, Annike…” He put his hands on her shoulders. Unsure of what he was going to saw, she frowned as she met his eyes. “Happy Naming Day!”

“Oh, is that today?” She didn’t sound excited at all. Disappointing, but it didn’t seem to be something that the First Order celebrated. Hux had been confused when he’d given him a gift for his naming day a few months earlier.

“It is. What kind of gift would you like?”

“Gift?” All three of them perked up at that.

Rey had moved closer to get a better look at the three children. He really wished their connection would break. He wanted all of his focus to be on his daughter, not for it to be split between her and his rival. “She looks a lot like you, doesn’t she?”

Though he loathed to reveal it in front of the Jedi… “It’s tradition in my family to get a gift for someone on their naming day.”

“This is your _daughter?_ Are these boys your children too?”

Annike thought for a moment and then asked, “What kind of gift can I ask for?”

“Anything reasonable.” His father had always said that, to discourage impossible requests after his mother had jokingly requested his ship.

She exchanged glances with her friends and they both grinned at her. A feral look shone in their eyes as Annike looked up at him and asked, “May I have a Rodian as my gift?”

Both he and Rey were taken aback. He found his voice first. “A… Rodian?”

“A _Rodian?_ What?”

Not at all realizing her request was strange, Annike tilted her head and looked off to the side. “Hm… Maybe half of one. A whole one might be too much…”

Their thoughts didn’t match her request at all, the three children remembering being gathered around a fire, eating together, their first real meal.

“A half of one?” Rey echoed, disturbed.

Though confused, he agreed. “Of course. That won’t be hard to get.”

Annike beamed, eyes lighting up. Pure excitement radiated through their bond. Her friends grinned and grabbed her arms, equally as excited. Parry squeezed her arm. “This is great, Trigger! We’re going to have Rodian again!”

“It was a Rodian, right?” Betren cocked his head.

“Yes, Lock,” Annike responded. “The green alien with the big eyes and bumpy skin, that’s a Rodian. General Hux showed us a picture, remember?”

“Oh, right!”

Ren realized before Rey what they wanted the Rodian half for. Green meat, roasted over a fire. Something that actually tasted good after years of standard meals and days of old rations and some small prey.

It was unsettling, to say the least. But he collected ashes for his grandfather’s helmet to rest on, and Hux had a fascination for skulls. She was bound to inherit those more morbid habits of theirs. He had always enjoyed a home cooked meal more than anything the First Order served. It made sense that she would too. She’d just combined the two things. “Is there anything else you’d like?”

“Um… Someplace to cook it would be helpful.” Rey made a strangled sound, covering her mouth. “Can you teach me how to cook some other things too? It’d be interesting to try it with new flavors and other foods.”

“I’d be glad to teach you how to cook.” They’d finally be able to bond over a shared interest.

“Thank you, Supreme Leader! Ah- would you and the General like to try some as well? It tastes wonderful! Pop and Lock really enjoyed it.”

“Yes, sir! It’s the best thing we’ve ever eaten!”

“I’m sure the General would love to try your cooking, and I would too. Go tell him to prepare my ship. I’ll leave as soon as possible.”

They hurried off to go find Hux, leaving him alone with Rey. SHe found her voice again and stepped in front of him. “What was that?”

“What?”

“She wants to eat someone! That’s-”

“It’s just an alien. It’s not like she’s eating another human.”

“A Rodian is a person! You’re not really going to go kill someone for her, are you?”

“It’s what she wants. I won’t deny my daughter and her friends such a small request. I want to be a good father to her.”

“How does she even know what one tastes like?”

The horror in her expression softened at the stab of regret he felt. “She did what she had to in order to keep herself and her friends alive when I wasn’t there to protect her.”

“That… That’s different, I suppose. But this is wrong!”

“You can’t stop me from trying to make her happy.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow/talk to me on Tumblr: @oblioknowlton


End file.
